Happy Feet: Chaos Theory -- Chapter 4: Tuesday (Pt.1)
In Seattle, everything was peaceful, a lone biker cycling through the city in the early morning. Suddenly, the ground started rumbling. Cracks lifted parts of the pavement and roads. The quake was detected by three seismometers. "Where are we?" Jack asked, referring to the quake. "6.5." Erik replied, the Arcadians were now over Portland. "6.8." Vincentine corrected. In Seattle, the quake was strong enough to release fire hydrans from the ground, water spraying everywhere. The biker was still avoiding the cracks as he made way to the Space Needle, able to withstand a 9.1 earthquake. "It's still climbing, 7.0." Erik reported. Any loose objects could easily be shaken. And glass windows can smash, the biker narrowly avoiding the shards of glass. "7.7." Erik reported again. "Where's the epicentre?" Jack asked. "Down town Seattle." Vincentine reported. The earthquake was now strong enough for lights to fall, signs to break off, and weak floors to collapse. "7.9." Erik reported. Meanwhile, the biker had made it to the bottom of the Space Needle, the earthquake being strong enough for telephone poles to fall down. The Space Needle can withstand a 9.1 earthquake, but the ground underneath cannot. As the ground below gave way, the supports of the Space Needle cracked. Breaking apart, the biker cycled away from the Space Needle, dodging all the falling debris. The Space Needle was now at a 20 degree angle, the supports could no longer hold the rest of the tower, so they smashed. The biker cycled as fast as he could, but the tower was gaining too fast. Hitting the ground before the biker could make it. "It's stopped." Erik said, surprised at the sudden action of the earthquake. The news report came in very quickly, saying the cause of the collapse was due to a gas pocket being ruptured by the earthquake, caving in. Soon, a 4.5 aftershock came round for a brief second. Before Erik and the others made it to their new facility. "Nice to meet you Erik." One of the people who worked there said. "Thanks, but lets cut to the chase, the rupture zone wasn't anywhere near Lakechaster, I'm betting the Alansberg area." "Alansberg? But I got subduction movement on the North American plate!" "Local faults were ruptured, yes, but they were activated by something deeper, trust me, I found evidence of faults near the area. Forget the hypercenter we're not gonna find the rupture with the equipment we have here, lets get some graphs of the effected areas alright? Thermal and infra-red, we're also looking for some interacting faults. Someone call NavStar, we're gonna need satellite images of the place quickly." "By my bet, it's probably that machine N.I.G.H.T.Y used." Jack said. "Well, it appears as though as the machine was built to create an earthquake that would affect the entire world. The design shows that it could have gone up to a magnitude 31, enough to turn the crust of the Earth inside-out." Spring Bonnie reported. "Okay, the president and the governor have been informed, they're taking action on a relief force. It looks as though this may be the start of a financial crisis for not only Washington state, but also for all of North America." Andrew said. "Let's hope lighting strikes twice." Vincentine said. Meanwhile, 50 miles away from Redding, California. A local train was passing by the country side, when at random, a massive crack started opening along the tracks, just behind the train. "We got seismic activity in northern California." Vincentine reported, the train was trying its best to get away from the opening ravine, but the earthquake made it so that it was slightly faster than the train. "There's an aftershock all over northern California, with a magnitude of 8.4." Erik said. "8.4 aftershock? That's bigger than the original quake." Andrew argued. "Yeah that doesn't make sense." Earl said. "Are you sure it's an aftershock?" Andrew asked. "Yeah we can't find the hypercenter and there doesn't appear to be a rupture zone." Erik explained. The train sped up to it's maximum speed, but by now the crack was only 3 feet away from the back of the train, and once the back carriage went down, the weight pulled the others down with it. The earthquake eventually stopped. "Excuse me governor, you have another call, line 2." In the White house, the governor was confused about this. "One moment please I'm gonna have to put you on hold. Rachel I hope this is important I'm talking to the governor of Washington." "I think that it is." Rachel advised, the governor switched to the call. "This is governor Williams... Outside of Redding? Just now?... Are you sure?" Back in the facility, everyone was at work with the recent events. "An entire train disappeared outside of Redding." (D)Mumble reported. "Erik give me a satellite image of the aftershock." Jack said. "Right here." Erik said, showing the north-west of America. "Now zoom in, there." Jack said. Erik zoomed in, until the crack was visible. "It doesn't appear to be an aftershock, it could be it's own quake." Jack suggested. "Two earthquakes in one area? The probability of that-" "The probability of an aftershock bigger than the original is even worse, the epicentre could be even deeper than we imagined." Jack elaborated. "But that would be too deep for our instruments." Erik argued. "It's just a theory I'm working on." "And what's the theory?" Erik asked. "That there might be more faults than expected, some going deeper than 700 kilometres." Jack explained. "It could work with the pattern we have, like a chain reaction, but we're not making this official just yet. We need more evidence before we can conclude something." Erik said. "Well, what about the graph?" Jack asked. "Here." Erik handed over the graph, but in the pre-quake area of the graph, something was wrong. "It's not side to side, the graph here shows a varying pattern, aftershock are meant to have a constant level of shaking. It's another quake, two quakes." Jack said. "Let me se- Oh my, okay then, let's head over to Redding then." "Redding?" Jack asked. "Yes, we're gonna get our hands, and flippers, dirty by going to Redding." Erik explained. "Okay then." Jack said, taking up to half an hour, they got to the country side of Redding. "So, what shall be our first measurement then?" Jack asked. "I don't know, though, if your theory is right, then we should be at one of the points that caused it. But the instruments we have are too inaccurate for this kind of depth." Erik said, all of a sudden, at a river just in front of them, gas bubbles started forming on the river surface. "Run!" Erik shouted. "What? Why?" Jack asked. "Carbon Monoxide, poisonous, forms from deep below." Erik said as they ran. Getting into the car and driving off. Back at the facility, they had arrived with more evidence. "Okay, so with this theory near to official, where is the next quake going to take place? If there is one." Jack asked. Erik ran the simulation of the stress areas, finding that the next one would take place in- "San Francisco." Erik said flatly. "And when is this supposed to happen?" Again Erik run the simulation. Just as it completed, the rooms of the facility started to shake as a new earthquake was starting. "About now." Erik answered. Lights fell down immediately, with the new windows smashing. The news report started, with the Golden Gate shown as the bridge shook from side to side. "7.9... 8.9... It's a 9.2!" Vincentine reported. "Where's it located?" Christina asked. "San Francisco." Vincentine answered. The news report showed as the bridge was shaking so much, cars on the sides of the bridge fell of. A couple of cables snapped under the strain, lowering the bridge by a meter. The bridge soon broke at a point, but the cables could only just hold the bridge up. Cars were tumbling into the bay as the gap became wider. And after a few more seconds, more cables snapped, leading to the bridges collapse. The towers on each side went into the bay along with the bridge. The phone next to Erik rang as soon as the earthquake stopped. "You had evidence and you didn't contact me?" The president asked. "You're right, I should of acted sooner. I'll take full responsibility." "This isn't about blame. We need to take a pro-active stance on this situation here, and if Jack believes that we are still in danger then I want to hear it." "I understand." "Don't start second guessing yourself, you're the man I put in that position." "(sigh) I got to be honest with you Mr. President, at this point, I don't know where to begin." "Begin with your gut, then go from there." The president said, before ending the call. "Okay then Jack, give us all you have." Erik said, Jack took the team over to the presentation room. "Since the quakes originated deeper than anyone thought, it's hard to place the exact hypercenter. But we can make an educated guess, based on the areas of activity, specifically the ones corresponding to the last three quakes. Let's follow the chain reaction. We started with the 7.9, outside Seattle Alansberg, to an 8.4, outside of Redding, and then this 9.2 in San Francisco. That leads us to our next rupture point. Here." "The San Andreas Fault." "We could be looking at a seismic event larger than modern man has ever witnessed before. If this rupture occurs, it could take out the California coastline." Jack explained. The presentation showed as the entire west coast faded into the sea. "(sigh) and how much time do you think we have?" Erik asked. "Factor in the magnitude and space between these last three quakes, along with the intensity of the earthquakes and aftershocks, I think we're down to days." Jack said, this causing a lot of confusion with the team. "Okay ladies and gentlemen please, let him talk." Erik silenced the group. "There's nothing we can do to prevent the main fault from rupturing, but maybe we can stop it from interacting with the San Andreas, causing, an interruption if you would call it that." Jack suggested. "How do you propose to cause this, interruption?" Erik asked. "We'd have to stabilise the fault line." Jack said. "And how would we do something like that?" Erik asked. "Fuse it." Jack said, creating more confusion. "Technically we can fuse the fault line if we generate enough heat." Andrew said. "And how on Earth would we be able to generate enough heat to do that?" Vincentine asked. "There's only one way I know of. A nuclear explosion." Jack said. "Have you considered the amount of radiation, fallout from one of these?" Adult Mumble asked. "We're all familiar with Nevada's nuclear program in the 50s, the blasts will be contained underground, and if we're careful the surface damage should be minimal." Andrew pointed out. "And what if something goes wrong?" Erik asked. "Is there a risk? Absolutely. But if it works, we just saved 50 million lives." "Are you sure?" The president asked. "Yes Mr. President." Erik said "You want to use nuclear warheads?" "It's the only way to fuse the fault line." "This has never been done before, what guarantees that this will work?" "Look, I wish I could give you some guarantees that this will work Mr. President, but I can't." "It's a long-shot Erik." "I believe it'll work." "I'm not comfortable with this sort of gamble the stakes are just too high. What are the other options?" "If I had other options, believe me, I would be presenting them now." "You have no other contingency plans?" "Not in this situation sir. Trust me, we've gone through every possible scenario and no other plan works." "This seems like such an extreme measure." "Well this is an extreme situation Mr. President. Extreme measurements are needed. With all do respect sir, I'm asking you to make this call now. We don't have time to analyse this." "I'm just suppose to have blind faith in this theory?" "Well Jack has been right so far, I should see no problem in why we should be doubting him now." "I'll give you a call when I've made my decision." "Yes sir." After an hour of waiting, Jack came in to change the TV onto a different channel. "It's here. Presidents speech." "Over the last 2 hours, our western seafront experienced three devastating earthquakes, these natural disasters have shaken our cities, towns and other, rural areas. Federal relief has been given, and you have my word. But more help is on the way. Now, we have reason to believe, that another major population is at risk, if we're correct in our assumptions, then the entire, southern Californian area will be hit by a fourth and potentially catastrophic quake that could domino effect the entire coastline. We must decide as a nation, how we are going to handle this crisis, are we going to allow this earthquake to shake the foundations of our spirit? Our community? And the ties that bind us together? Or are we going to come together, neighbour helping neighbour, until each and every person is safe among us? I believe in my heart, that we have the strength and courage, to survive this calamity, together. Join me now, as we face this challenge. And God bless you all." "I guess that means it's a go." Vincentine said. Over the next few hours, everyone from the west coast was evacuated, most going to evacuation camps. Meanwhile, Erik was at the first warhead area, the bomb had already been placed down, but the automatic wouldn't work, manual was the only way, so Erik went down to do the process of manual setting. The other 5 were set to automatic. All of a sudden, another earthquake shook the ground, making the warhead land on Erik, injuring him. "Erik, do you think you can discharge it in time?" "Absolutely, I hope this works Jack." "I hope so too Erik." "Firing warhead number 1." The first one exploded. "Firing warhead number 2." Then the second. "Firing warhead number 3." Third came next. "Firing warhead number 4." The forth exploded. "Firing warhead number 5." And the fifth exploded, Erik managed to press the manual code in time, making it explode. However, it was just short of the expected time of explosion. "5.6... 5.3... 4.7." Andrew reported, the earthquake was stopping. "1.2, stabilising." They had done it, but with the cost of 1 of their team. "Hey, look over here." Jack said, Vincentine looked over the computer to see what the case was, there was still some stress in southern California. "They aren't decreasing. Mr. President, the fault is very stable right now, except for Southern California, give me another 24 hours before we can be sure this fault is stable." Vincentine said. "(sigh) you got your 24 hours, we just save 60 million so you should be at lest proud at that." The president said, before ending the call. But then, after a few seconds, another earthquake started. News reports went wild as the San Andreas fault started to open up, creating a cavern that started at the coast, stretching through inland into Los Angeles. "8.9... 9.2" Vincentine reported. The crack had reached 30 miles inland, turning toward the north. "It's 9.8... 10... 10 and still climbing." Andrew reported. Another cavern was forming on the other side, it looked as though the two would meet, creating a new island. And it was looking to do just that. "Oh my God, 10.5." Jack reported. It seemed to be minutes before it stopped, but when it did, it stopped immediately. The fault was finally stable. "Though this event was a tragedy, it was also a wake-up call. We are not the masters of this planet. We are just one of many who's ancestors once called this place, mother Earth. And though our cities and building may fall, as long as we hold true to the virtues that are sacred to everyone of us, ans long as we have the will, to prevail, we will endure." Previous Chapter - Next Chapter Category:Fanon Stuff Category:Fan-Fictions